Tag Archives: Versus

From Columbus Business First - Blue Jackets announcers staying put: Jeff Bell of BizJournals reports that the Blue Jackets will be bringing back Bill Davidge and Jeff Rimer in 2011-12. Hold your groans, though. “Sharrock said the Jackets will meet with Fox over the summer to see what can be done to enhance the telecasts.” We all know that starts with not putting a crappy product on the ice to broadcast, but it’s good to see them dedicated to improving the overall presentation. In addition, the article mentions their loss of 22.7% ratings, down to a 1.09 rating (10,000 homes).

The boys over at The Cannon are doing some great work with their 2011 “Exit Interviews” series, going over what was expected of each guy, and where they compared to that. Be sure to check it out and throw in your $0.02.

Unless you’re under a very large soundproof rock, you’ve heard, by now, that NBC/Versus have retained the rights to the NHL for the next 10 years at the cost of a cool $2B over the life of the agreement. ESPN was the longest-running competitor to Versus before finally dropping out. It seems as though fan opinion is split on whether or not this is a good deal for the NHL. In theory, ESPN = exposure, where with Versus (or the network-to-be-named-later, if you will) they essentially get to be the top dog. Aerys Lightning writer Alexis (not Guy) Boucher weighs in her two cents on the deal, and really I have to agree 100%. Give her a read.